On this day: February 25

2013: C. Everett Koop, who served as the 13th U.S. surgeon general under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush from 1982 to 1989, dies at age 96 in Hanover, New Hampshire. Koop was outspoken on controversial public health issues, including abortion and HIV/AIDS, and did much to raise the profile the office of the surgeon general. He was also well-known for his work around tobacco, calling for a "smoke-free" society. His 1986 surgeon general's report on the dangers of secondhand smoke was seminal.